Don't let Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster scare you — he's sweet as can be in cookie pop form

Once a villian, now Bumble is a sweet cookie treat on a stick.

These Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer treats are so much fun to make, even for a big kid like me. The cotton candy is one of my favorite parts about this cookie pop. I especially like it when the cotton candy fur on this cookie is nice and fluffy. And even though cotton candy doesn't like to be out in the open for very long, there's a way to make them ahead of time too.

First, insert the lollipop sticks in the cookies. I like to use the "mega-stuf" variety of cookies so that the filling is a little bit thicker for holding the lollipop stick. Once the stick is inserted, squeeze the sandwich cookie slightly so the filling adheres to the stick.

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Purple salt water taffy is the perfect color for the mouth and background for the eyes. Carefully cut off about one-third of a piece of taffy.

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Then form it into a mouth. The less handling, the better, so the taffy doesn't get too sticky. It will stick to a cutting board, so putting it on waxed paper is a good idea. When forming the mouth, make sure the size from edge to edge will fit within the diameter of the cookie.

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Then cut a small white piece of taffy that will be the inside of the mouth.

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Lay the white piece of taffy on the mouth.

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Lightly press the white part into the purple part of the mouth to make purple lips.

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On a cutting board, set the tip of a knife just in front of a Life Saver. Hold on to the top part of the knife just over the tip, and gently bring the knife down to sort of tap the Life Saver, and shards should fall off.

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Pick the shards that are pointy like teeth.

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Then add the teeth to the white part of the mouth.

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To make the background for the eyes, cut a small piece of purple taffy.

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Form it into a half-circle about the width of the mouth or a little smaller.

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Gently push the eyeballs into the taffy so that the inside edges are pushed slightly inward, toward each other (so the eyes don't have that blank stare look).

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Melt the candy coating in the microwave.

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Lay the cookie pop in the coating, and spoon the coating over the cookie.

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Be sure to spoon a lot of coating in the area where the stick is inserted in the cookie so it will be more secure.

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Lay the cookie on waxed paper.

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While the coating is still wet, add the mouth and eyes.

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While the coating is still wet, add the cotton candy to look like fur.

Image: Nancy Foster/SheKnows; Graphic: Tiffany Egbert/SheKnows

Let the cookie pop sit for about 20 minutes or until the coating sets. Then the cookie pop can be removed from the waxed paper. Serve right away so the cotton candy will be fluffy. To make this ahead of time, do all the steps except for adding the cotton candy. Then, just before serving, warm some extra candy coating, and spoon it around the sides of the cookie and between the eyes and the mouth. Then quickly add the cotton candy before the coating dries.

Directions:

Into each cookie, insert a lollipop stick. Very gently, squeeze the sandwich cookie slightly so the filling attaches to the stick. Set aside.

For the mouth (part 1): On a cutting board, cut about 1/3 off a piece of purple taffy. Shape the smallest piece to form a mouth, and set it on waxed paper. Try not to handle the taffy for too long, or it will become sticky. Repeat to make the remaining purple mouths, making sure the size of the mouths will fit within the diameter of the cookies.

For the mouth (part 2): On a cutting board, cut about 1/4 off a piece of white taffy. Shape the smallest piece into the same shape as the mouth, only slightly smaller. This will be the inside of the mouth. Lay the white piece of taffy over the purple piece. Push the white piece down slightly into the purple piece, leaving enough purple showing on the outside to look like lips. Repeat for the remaining mouths.

For the teeth: On a cutting board, carefully use a knife to cut "shards" off the Life Savers. Put the tip of the knife on the cutting board just in front of the Life Saver. Then, holding on to the top of the knife by the tip, lower the knife to sort of tap onto the Life Saver, and shards should fall off. Pick out the most pointy-looking shards, and lightly push them onto the white part of the mouth to make the teeth.

For the eyes (part 1): On a cutting board, cut about 1/2 off each remaining purple piece. Shape each purple piece into a half-circle that's about the same width as the mouth (or slightly smaller is fine too) to form the background for the eyes. Set on waxed paper.

For the eyes (part 2): Add 2 candy eyeballs in the middle of each piece of purple taffy. Push each eyeball slightly inward, toward each other, to give the look a little character (not staring straight ahead).

To a medium-size bowl, add 3 cubes of almond bark. Warm in the microwave for about 45 seconds, and stir. Warm in the microwave again for about 45 seconds, and stir. If needed to thoroughly melt the coating, warm again in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Hold a cookie pop over the bowl of melted coating, and spoon the candy coating over the cookie. Be sure to cover the area where the stick is inserted in the cookie with lots of candy coating so the stick will be more secure. Lay the coated cookie on waxed paper.

While the coating is still wet, lay the mouth and eyes on top of the cookie. Cover all areas that have the wet coating with fluffy pieces of cotton candy so it looks like fur.

Repeat the process, 1 cookie at a time. Add the remaining 2 cubes of almond bark to the melting bowl when needed.

Let the cookies sit on the waxed paper for about 20 minutes or until the candy coating is set. Then the cookie pops can be removed from the waxed paper.

Serve right away so the cotton candy is at its fluffiest. The cotton candy will shrink if left sitting out, particularly if the air is moist.

A make-ahead option is to prepare all of the above except for adding the cotton candy. Then, just before serving, warm up a little extra candy coating, and add it with a spoon just on the sides and in between the eye and mouth area. Then quickly add the cotton candy so it will stick.